Yale Heads to North Country

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -
The ECAC Hockey playoff picture remains fuzzy with two weekends left in the regular season. Yale could wind up anywhere from fourth (hosting a playoff series) to ninth (out of the playoffs entirely). One thing that is clear is the Bulldogs need every point they can get, starting with a trip to No. 6 St. Lawrence (Friday, 7:00 p.m.) and No. 9 Clarkson (Saturday, 4:00 p.m.) this weekend.

Yale (9-10-6, 6-8-4 ECAC Hockey, 7th) picked up a point last weekend with a 3-3 tie against Quinnipiac, moving one point ahead of eighth-place Cornell. Ninth-place RPI is two points back, currently outside of the playoff picture. The Bulldogs trail sixth-place Colgate by four points with only four games remaining.

The tie with Quinnipiac came after the Bulldogs put 53 shots on goal, the most they had in a game since putting 57 on goal against Union at the end of October. Junior defenseman Helen Resor (Greenwich, Conn.) had 15 of those shots, five more than she had in any other game this year. She had been held to one shot in three of Yale's previous four games. For the season Resor is fifth on the team in goals with five and sixth in points with 11. Junior forward Crysti Howser (Wilmette, Ill.) leads the team with 24 points (8-16-24).

Junior forward Sarah Tittman (Chilton, Wisc.) accounted for Yale's lone goal in the earlier meeting with St. Lawrence, a 3-1 Saints victory. Senior goaltender Shivon Zilis (Markham, Ont.) made 34 saves and the game was not decided until the third period, when defenseman Kirsten Roach broke a 1-1 tie at the 1:34 mark and defenseman Kerri Wallace tacked on an empty-net goal with 39 seconds left.

St. Lawrence (21-8-1, 14-3-1 ECAC Hockey, 2nd) is now 29-0-1 all-time against Yale, dating back to the Saints' days as a Division III powerhouse. Forward Sabrina Harbec is fifth in the country in scoring (12-30-42), powering a Saints offense that is fifth in the country in goals per game (3.83). Goaltender Meghan Guckian has a .912 save percentage and a 2.15 goals-against average.

Clarkson (19-6-5, 10-5-3 ECAC Hockey, 3rd) had a pair of players register hat tricks in the 6-0 win over Yale at the end of November. Forward Marie-Jo Gaudet scored the first three goals and forward Melissa Waldie scored the last three. Forward Britney Selina leads the team in scoring (15-21-36).

The Golden Knights are fourth in the country in scoring defense, allowing only 1.43 goals per game. Two freshmen, Lauren Dahm and Eve Grandmont-Berube, have split time in net.